


I will hold on to the Afterglow

by phlebotinxm



Series: Happy Ever After [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Christmas Special, Disneyland, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:21:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phlebotinxm/pseuds/phlebotinxm
Summary: This whole adventure had all started with a pretty innocent comment, thrown by their four (and a half, daddy!) years old daughter over dinner a few weeks back.“What’s an amusement park, daddy?” Alya had asked, “Is it for children?”In which Alya's first Christmas present is a trip to Disneyland Paris.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Series: Happy Ever After [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938604
Comments: 18
Kudos: 44





	I will hold on to the Afterglow

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> I didn't know if I would be able to write a Christmas thingy this year, but I guess I somehow managed? 
> 
> This is a (somehow late) Christmas present to my dear friend Nick, who's the most supportive and nicest being out there, who's both a fan of the lovely fitzsimmons family and the mandalorian. I hope you will like it!! 
> 
> this work is a part of my fitzsimmons family series taking place after season 7, and although you don't need to read the others to understand it, it might bring a little bit of extra knowledge if you do. If you did follow the series though, chronogically speaking, this work is situated between "Double the Troubles" and "Hold back the Night, Wait till its Right".
> 
> This is unbeta'd and English isn't my first language, sorry! title is from Ed Sheeran's last song, Afterglow. 
> 
> I hope you'll like it nonetheless, and please don't hesitate to tell me! xx

“Do you see it?” Fitz asked teasingly, throwing Alya an amused look via the rearview mirror. Next to him, Jemma’s smile only widened, her hand squeezing his thigh. 

Alya practically vibrated in her seat in reply, tugging against the seatbelt as much as she could to wriggle her little body and be able to see the road better. “Yes! Daddy, I see it! Look!” 

This whole adventure had all started with a pretty innocent comment, thrown by their four (and a half, daddy!) years old daughter over dinner a few weeks back. 

When school didn’t start until 5 for most children in Scotland, Jemma and Fitz had tried to get Alya into the system a little earlier. Their daughter was smart, unsurprisingly smarter than most children, and after a few months in Perthshire after leaving Shield they’d found that she got bored quite easily if not constantly entertained. Fitz’s mum and occasionally Jemma’s parents took as much time as they could with her as well from the moment they arrived, but Alya’s questions never stopped, and it turned out that school was exactly what she needed to satisfy her never ending curiosity. 

And when both Fitz and Jemma had been terrified to leave her with strangers for an entire day --somehow, way more terrified than their daughter herself-- Alya was right in her element, and came home with even more questions than before. Getting her to socialize with other children hadn’t been as hard as they’d feared, and Alya was soon invited to various birthday parties and gushing about her friends from school.

Which led to that fatidic night around dinner, when Alya babbled about how her friend Chrissy had gone to an amusement park with her brother. 

_“What’s that, daddy?”_ Alya had asked, holding her fork tight in her entire little fist and almost sending the piece of salmon she’d pierced flying around the living-room. _“Is it for children?”_

And with everything that had happened to them, leaving Shield, Jemma getting pregnant and them discovering that it was twins, it had taken but a single look above their daughter’s head to decide to take her to the most magical place on earth for Christmas. 

_“I want her to have a memory of Earth that will be hers alone”_ Fitz had told Jemma that one night, kissing her as they laid in bed side by side. _“The twins will have all of their first times on Earth, but Alya… she’s missed so much already. I want her to understand that nothing will change between the three of us once the babies will be there.”_

And Jemma, four and a half months pregnant and falling asleep against her side, fell in love with her husband all over again. The next morning, she wasn’t even surprised to find him organizing the entire trip already, grabbing a mug of tea before sitting down next to him and joining the fun.

They’d decided to take a week to drive to France, driving past Jemma’s parents on the way there and staying at Disneyland Paris overnight. It was something so simple and so mondain, yet it felt like one of the biggest adventures they’d ever been on together. Firstly because they had an overexcited toddler in the backseat, who’d caught up on every disney movie once she was told they were going to Disneyland, and second because it was the first real trip they did all together as a family. 

“Are you okay?” Fitz asked Jemma as Alya giggled to herself in the backseat, pressing her nose against the window of the car to look at her surroundings. Jemma had fallen asleep for most of the drive, exhausted by her pregnancy and overexcited toddler, and she was just now emerging. 

She smiled at him. “Yes. Excited to be there, finally. My back aches from sitting in the car for too long.” 

Fitz wrinkled his nose. “I’ll massage you tonight, okay? And don’t push yourself too hard during the day, we don’t need to be running around the park for Alya to be happy.”

“Fitz, I’m pregnant, not made of glass.” 

“Still.” 

She rolled her eyes at him, and he pretended not to see. 

* * *

“Daddy!!! Daddy, look!”

Fitz muffled a laugh as Alya pulled him by the hand with surprising force, waving at the scenari in front of them. They’d barely walked past the main gates yet Alya couldn’t stop jumping around in delight, jumping from one surprise to the other. Fitz held onto her hand tight, afraid to see her disappear into the crowd, and Jemma couldn’t stop laughing as she looked at the two. Fitz had already tightened her scarf twice in the short time they’d been there, and Jemma didn’t have the heart to tell him that their daughter was buzzing with excitement so much she probably couldn’t feel the cold. 

“There’s a castle,” Alya half whispered as she spotted it, standing proud and tall right in front of her. “Look, mama, there’s a castle!” She stopped in her tracks, taking some time to digest the information. 

“Yes sweet girl, it’s sleeping beauty’s castle,” Jemma replied, caressing her cheek. “Do you remember it?”

“Of course I do!”

The mocked outrage in her voice made Fitz chuckle, even when Jemma threw him a look from under her lashes. He couldn’t help but lean over and kiss her cheek, his lips grazing her skin until she turned her head around just enough to allow him a chaste kiss at the corner of her lips. The cold tip of her nose was freezing his cheeks, but Fitz melted in the embrace all the same. 

“Are we going to see the princesses?” Alya asked, completely oblivious to her parents’ actions. 

Fitz pressed one more kiss to Jemma’s lips before grabbing Alya by the waist, making her giggle in delight as he caught her into his arms. “That we are.” Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck and Fitz took a momen to marvel in the way she still felt so small and delicate in his embrace. Ever since they’d come back to Earth, it felt like Alya grew up even faster than before. Every day brought a new set of surprises into their lives, and her brain seemed to never stop swallowing information after information, making their heads spin with how much she learned at times. 

When they’d often wondered when Alya was just a newborn if she would share their brains and love for science, they’d long ago decided to let their daughter follow the path she wanted. Their lives had been extremely lonely when they were children, before they met each other at the sweet age of 16. Their parents had done their best with the means they had, but even then it had been a very lonely childhood for two brilliant brains deprived from stimulation. So it was clear in both their minds that whatever path Alya might choose for herself, she would have her parents’ full support no matter what.

“Do you think we can go to the shops?” Alya asked her dad with a tilt of her head, looking so much like Jemma at this moment that Fitz felt his head spin a little.

“We can,” Jemma replied, “but remember what we said?” 

“Yes, mama. Only reasonable things, and things we can bring back without an extra bag.”

Teaching Alya about the vallue of money hadn't been as complicated as Fitz and Jemma had thought. When Alya had yet to stop marvelling at everything, she also was quite naturally reasonable when it came to what she asked her parents. Fitz suspected it might have to do with the few little things she had growing up, his heart sometimes squeezing at the thought. He would have wanted to give his daughter everything she could have ever wished for, spoilling her rotten even, but life had decided otherwise. The conditions she had grown into were not ideal, but they’d made it work, and Alya even seemed to miss their little space nest sometimes. 

So when Alya had been exposed to the fury of the capitalist society, both Fitz and Jemma had held their breaths. There were so many toys, plushies and things for her to want all at once. But Alya had surprised them both once more, instead settling for a quite excessive obsession with various plushies she kept by her side no matter what.

“Maybe we can swing by the shops after lunch, what do you say?” Fitz asked, more for Jemma than Alya this time. “This way we can do a few attractions before we eat, and then we can give in to capitalism and comsumer society.”

Jemma rolled her eyes playfully. “As if you weren’t the first to spoil your daughter,” she whispered, before clearing her throat. “Sounds good. What do you say honey, do you wanna do a few rides first?”

Alya’s exciting cheer was enough of an answer in itself.

* * *

“How many people work here?” Alya asked, her little nose frowned as she dangled her body with her father’s arm, her tiny little feet planted on both his shoes. She giggled when he wriggled his toes, making her move with it. 

“Around 17,000,” Fitz replied with a smile. He bulged his muscles a little to raise up into the air, making her yelp in surprise and delight. He lowered her down slowly, and Alya jumped on her feet, clapping her hands in delight. She’d long decided to get rid of her gloves, and both her parents had stopped fighting her after the third time she’d put them back in the pockets of her coat. 

With Jemma being pregnant, they didn’t have to queue long for most attractions. After swinging by the Studio Services to get a certificate, they’d manage to get a green access pass allowing them to skip most of the queues and take shortcuts. However, occupying an almost five years old for ten minutes sometimes felt like a very long time. 

Turning to Jemma, Fitz couldn’t help but smile as he caught the look of pure adoration on her face as she looked at the both of them play together. Sometimes, it took a little time for the both of them to realize that _this_ was their life, now. That there weren’t any aliens or life threatening threats to deal with anymore, but simply a whiny child to put to bed. Not that the alien had anything on Alya when she was too high on sugar. 

“You okay?” Fitz mouthed when he caught Jemma’s gaze. She was a little tired already, even after doing only two rides with them. Fitz knew she wanted to enjoy as much as she could with them, but he also knew how much this pregnancy tired her out. Jemma was never one to complain, but Fitz had long learned how to recognize the usual signs of exhaustion in his wife.

Jemma nodded, . “I’m fine, I promise. The little ones are getting a little jumpy.” 

This caught Alya’s attention immediately. “Are they?” she asked, rushing to her side. Her little hands immediately framed Jemma’s bulging belly, and her face contorted into a smile. “Do you think they like the park?” 

“I think they like you,” Jemma said with a laugh, kissing the tip of her nose playfully. “And they’re certainly excited to be there.” 

She looked up in surprise when she heard the characteristic click of an Iphone camera, and Jemma wasn’t surprised to see Fitz smile behind his mobile after snapping a quick picture. 

“It’s for the groupchat,” he said, typing away with his gaze fixated on the screen. Seconds later, Jemma could feel her own phone vibrate in her bag, and she took it out to take a look. 

Alya “Can I see mama?” 

Catching her by her underarms, Jemma hoisted up on her knees gently. Alya immediately froze, her movements becoming sluggish and measured. It was always incredibly funny and heartwarming to see how careful she got around her mom since she’d gotten pregnant, and how excited she was about the babies coming soon. 

“Look at that,” Jemma said as she angled the phone towards Alya, letting her see the picture they painted. Even in a photo, the look of utter adoration on both Alya and Jemma’s faces were clear, and the groupchat they’d created for the team after leaving SHIELD immediately lit up with strings of emojis. “Uncle Mack says you’re adorable.”

The grin on Alya’s face stretched even bigger than before. 

“Want me to take a picture with your Christmas gift?” 

Mack’s christmas gift had been a gorgeous little necklace she wore around her neck days and night, which consisted in a litte shiny constellation that reminded the little family of their own. 

Alya immediately lit up at the idea. “Yes!!” 

Fitz chuckled, bending over a little to get to the girl’s level and take a proper picture. “Alright…. smile!” 

He snapped a few shots, his heart swelling at the sight. Jemma had brought her arms around Alya’s tiny frame, but there was no hiding her belly even with the coat she was wearing. At this moment, Fitz realized that he’d caught his entire heart in a single frame, and his throat closed up. 

Before he could process it though, one of the staff members approached them quietly. “Are you guys ready to go?” the woman asked, her uniform so incredibly retro and fitting for the Peter Pan themed ride. 

“Yes!” Alya exclaimed, jumping to her feet. 

It took a little time for Fitz to send that picture to the groupchat, but he also made it his new lockscreen the minute he got out of the ride.

* * *

Alya couldn’t take her eyes off the screens around the restaurant they’d chosen to eat at. The Café Hyperion was filled with families at this time of the year, and Fitz and Jemma had managed to find a spot right at the center of it, in front of the empty stage. Alya had however found interest in the Clone Wars episodes they were showing in repeat on the screens above said stage, but neither of their parents found it in their hearts to tell her to focus on her burger and fries instead. 

“You’re not too tired, are you?” Fitz asked his wife as she mounched over a fry absentmindedly. If he’d been by her side and not seated next to Alya at this moment, he would have reached for her hand or belly. 

Jemma immediately focused her attention on him. “I’m fine,” she assured with a small smile. “Really. I’m having such a lovely time.” 

Once upon a time, Jemma hadn’t been very good at lying. She’d gotten better once Alya had been born and she’d found herself having to deceive a grabby toddler, but Fitz could always see right through her clear as day. There were no lies in her eyes however, and Fitz smiled up at her lovingly. 

“Me too,” he replied honestly. He’d been a little anxious at the prospect of the trip, more specifically when it came to the crowd and the noise that came with amusement parks. But it was mid January, and most people seemed to wait until clearer days to spend an entire weekend at the park. “I love getting to spend some time with you girls when it’s just the three of us still.” 

With a secretive smile, Jemma brought a hand down to her belly, stroking it lovingly. “We’re soon going to be outnumbered,” she whispered, voice a little shaky. “And sometimes, I think about it and I wonder if we’re going to do good, you know?” 

Fitz looked back at Alya, still engrossed in the TV. She looked so much like him it was frightening at times, but she was such a little Jemma whenever she wanted to be. Almost five years later and two more kids in the way, it sometimes still felt unreal that he and Jemma had a _kid_. That of all the amazing things they’d made, their greatest creation was a little human who now ran around, talked and lived her life becoming an amazing little person already. 

“I think we’re gonna do just fine,” Fitz replied eventually, wishing he could kiss her forehead like he often did in times of troubles or doubts. “We did more than alright with this one,” he mentionned to their daughter with a tilt of his head, Jemma following the direction with her gaze “And I think we’ll do great with these two, too.” 

Jemma bit her lower lip. “But how can you be sure of that?” 

“Because I know you, and I know your heart. There is no way you could be a bad mum even if you tried, Jem. And because together, we’re unstoppable, rememeber? I don’t fear the future as long as it’s with you, no matter how frightening or full of doubts it can be.” 

The look of pure love and adoration on her face was worth all the sappiness in the world .

* * *

“Look, daddy! It’s Captain America!” Fitz looked down at the plushie Alya was now waving in front of her face excitedly. “Uncle Coulson said he’s the best soldier in the world!” 

Fitz wrinkled his nose a little. “A little overrated, if you ask me,” he muttered under his breath, plastering a smile on his face for his daughter nonetheless. “I see that, monkey. But are you sure you don’t wanna look around the store before you pick something?” 

Alya seemed to consider the option, her little face twisting in a focused expression before she nodded her assent, handing him the plushie with a nod. “Alright. Can you hold it for me daddy?” 

Fitz felt his lips stretch into a smile, unable to notice how similar Alya was to Jemma whenever she set her mind onto something. “I sure can, monkey. Now you stay near me alright? Don’t you get lost in the store.”

Alya was barely paying attention to him anymore as she wandered off, and Fitz let out a sigh. He’d already lost his wife, something he wasn’t quite proud of, but he’d be damned if he was going to let Alya slip away the same way. Watching Alya stop at a display from the corner of his eyes, Fitz looked around the store to try and spot Jemma, feeling the familiar feeling of anxiety creep at the bottom of his stomach. He logically knew that she was probably looking for a little something for the both of them, but with all they’d been through in their life, Fitz always felt a little uneasy every time they were unexpectantly separated. 

“Daddy!!! Look!!!”

Alya’s excited yell had Fitz turn around in surprise, and the sight in front of him immediately made him laugh. Alya seemed to have found the Star Wars section of the shop, and her little arms were filled with various plushies and toys she probably had been too excited to get her hands on. Fitz immediately spotted a baby Yoda --Grogu, Alya’s voice corrected from the back of his mind-- one tucked under her arm, and he knew the moment he did that Captain America would stay on the shelf where Alya had originally found him. 

She had developped quite an obsession for baby Yoda, as the rest of the world really, and Jemma had eventually given in to both Fitz and their daughter’s begging eyes and let her watch the Mandalorian with them. There was no controlling her obsession anymore the moment she’d watched the two seasons of the show, and if her shiny eyes were anything to go by, Fitz knew they would be driving home with a Grogu plushie in two days.

“Daddy,” Alya whispered as he walked towards her, catching the plastic lightsaber that slipped out of her arms and threatened to crash on the floor right before it did. “There’s a costume!” 

There was indeed a costume, Fitz noted with a critical eyebrow raise. He hadn’t seen it at first, but there was no mistaking the Yoda ears and brown tunic of the children’s costume behind her. And it didn’t take much more for Fitz to picture his daughter in said costumes, which looked way too cute for such a simple piece of clothing. 

“What’s happening here?” Jemma’s voice tore Fitz out of his daydream. When he turned around to look at his wife, she looked suspiciously innocent for someone who’d disappeared for so long. He didn’t mention her arms still behind her back, chosing to raise a critical eyebrow at her instead. Pointedly ignoring him, Jemma glanced towards Alya, and let out a small, surprised “oh.”

“Yeah,” Fitz emphasized, opening his eyes comically wide as he turned to his wife. “There’s a costume, Jemma.” 

_“Oh!”_

Jemma looked down at her daughter one more time, then at her husband, wondering which one of the two was more excited at the perspective of Alya wearing a baby Yoda outfit. “Well monkey, it looks like you found what you’re going to bring home aren’t you?” 

Alya’s eyes immediately snapped from the costume to the Grogu plushie she’d kept in her arms, so tight Jemma didn’t even think she would be able to pry it from her if she tried. 

“Oh baby, you don’t have to choose,” Fitz said immediately, kneeling besides her. “We said reasonable, we didn’t say one single thing.” 

Alya’s face immediately lit up, and Fitz was brought back to a few weeks ago at Christmas when she jumped around the house in excitment. There was no sugar high this time, no Maggie Fitz to sneak her candies and chocolate and no presents under the tree, but Alya didn’t exactly need all this to get excited when it came to anything. 

“And look what I found for Daddy,” Jemma said then, finally revealing what she’d found on her own corner of the shop. Fitz had to take a couple of seconds to stare at the piece of clothing she was handing over, before his face broke into a smile. “You two are going to be the two cutest people in the galaxy!” 

“Yes!! Daddy, look! We match!” 

Fitz spared a glance at the Han Solo outfit one more time before returning Alya’s smile, catching her in his arms when she threw herself at him. 

“Hunter would absolutely love this,” Jemma whispered teasingly. 

Fitz suddenly thought about his friend, that he hadn’t seen in so long. As he hugged Alya tight to his chest, the plushie squeezed uncomfortably between the two of them, he wondered if there was a way to contact him and Bobbi again. Surely, they could find a way. 

“Are you okay daddy?” Alya asked, pulling back just enough to frame his face with her tiny little fingers. “Are you sad?” 

From above Alya’s head, Fitz and Jemma shared a look. “No baby, I’m not sad. I was thinking about something for a minute there. Now why don’t we go pay for the plushie and the costume, yeah?” 

Alya nodded, looking back at her mum with an pensive expression on her face. “Can we get a gift for the babies?” 

Jemma felt her heart swell with love at the question. “Of course we can, sweet girl. What do you want to get?” 

* * *

As she watched her husband and daughter walk towards the exit of the park hand in hand in front of her, Jemma felt her stomach fill with butterflies in a way she hadn’t quite felt for a long time. She was exhausted, her feet ached and her ankles were swollen from walking around all day --even though she’d mostly waited somewhere she could sit for Fitz and Alya for the better part of the day, not doing many rides so far along her pregnancy-- and she felt like she could sleep for two days straight. Luckily for her, she knew Fitz would be more than happy to handle Alya tonight to let her rest as much as she wanted, because her husband was sweet and attentive like this. She spared a glance at the Pandora ring he’d gotten her in the Studio Park, somehow surprising her with the sweet thought. Fitz never failed to amaze her with his attention, a sweetness and love he always spared for their daughter every single day. 

“Wait,” Jemma said, making both her husband and daughter stop in surprise. When they looked back at her, she had to bite back a laugh at the similar expression on their faces. Alya truly was Fitz’s carbon copy. “I think the matching costumes deserve a proper picture in front of the castle.”

Alya seemed delighted with the prospect, clapping her hands excitedly when Fitz shrugged his coat off to show off the costume and grabbed her by the waist to hoist her up in his arms. Alya had flat out refused to put back her coat after putting on the costume, and Jemma hadn’t missed the concerned expression on Fitz’s face when he’d felt the chilly January air as they walked back of the store. Luckily for them, the costume was pretty thick and warm, and they were only a few minutes’ walk from the hotel they’d booked for the night. 

“Alright, why don’t you smile for me?” Jemma said, aiming her camera at the both of them. Behind them, the castle was bathed in a soft yellowish light as the sun was beginning to set, and Alya looked almost angelic in her father’s arms.

“Readu monkey?” Fitz asked, turning towards her with a smile Jemma had rarely seen directed to anyone else besides her and their daughter. “Or do you need me to tickle you?” 

Alya was halfway through a laugh when Jemma snapped the picture, and she realized straight away that it was proabably her all time favorite picture. When she didn’t believe Disneyland was the most magical place on earth --mostly because she was a scientist, and she believed in such things as magic, she couldn’t deny that their day had been absolutely wonderful. And this picture was the end to a wonderful day that would stay in their memory for a long time.

“Perfect,” she called then, unable to tear her eyes away from the screen. When she eventually looked up, Fitz was dancing in circles with Alya in his arms, unaware of the rest of the world and the people walking past them with curious expressions on their faces. 

And when they went to sleep that night, an overexcited Alya passed out from sheer exhaustion in her bed right next to theirs, Jemma closed her eyes with a happy smile on her face and the conviction that the day had been an absolute success for all of them.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on twitter on my fanfic dedicated account @/phlebotinxm or on my main account @/keptinonzebridg if you'd like! xx


End file.
